Ch 74: Family Camping Trip
Hermione was sitting on the stairs of her old house looking at the pile of old camping gear she had piled on the floor. It had been years since she had used any of it, but since they were planning on camping for at least one week of their family vacation, she thought she should dig it out of the attic. She and Rose had gone on a few weekend camping trips when they'd first come home from Pakistan, but most of it she hadn't used at all since she'd come back from her work in overseas refugee camps. She knew Ron had alluded to having magical camping gear, but she wasn't sure what all that could be. I bet the tent magically sets itself up, and the fires are probably easy to start, too, she thought. Either way, I need our sleeping bags and the basic camp shower stuff and the camp cookware. Once she had her pile of gear she thought they'd use, she packed it up and headed back to the other house.
She came in the front door with her arms laden down with camping gear and unceremoniously dropped it all in a giant pile in the hallway. It made such a loud noise that Hugo, Ron and Rose quickly ran out to see what had happened.
"You ok?" Ron asked.
"Yeah, just thought I'd bring over our old camping gear."
"What is all this stuff, Hermione?" Hugo asked.
"Oh, just the basic stuff – camp shower, sleeping bags, cookware. That sort of thing."
"Um, maybe we should show you the magical tent before we pack up all this stuff," Ron grinned.
"Yeah," nodded Hugo.
"Why?" asked Rose.
"Oh, you'll love it," said Hugo with a knowing grin.
The whole family went out in the back yard and decided to set up the two tents side by side so the boys could see a muggle tent and the girls could see a magical tent.
"OK," Hugo declared. "Muggle tent first." Soon he and Ron crawled into the small tent, and Rose and Hermione came in right behind them.
"It's smaller that your bed when we expand it for family slumber parties," observed Hugo.
"Wow," Ron finally said. "You lived in a tent like this with Rose as an infant?"
"Well, the tent there was bigger and set up by the UNHCR of course. But we went camping in this when she was little. But, now I want to see the other one," said Hermione.
Hugo and Ron went in first so they could see their reactions. As soon as Hermione and Rose walked in the flap, they both started laughing hysterically.
"What?" asked Ron.
"It's huge!" Hermione gasped.
"It has a kitchen AND a loo!" laughed Rose.
"Well, yeah. What did you think? We were going to go two weeks without a loo?"
"Yeah," the girls said together laughing at Ron and Hugo's disgusted reaction.
"Well, ladies, camping is fun. But it doesn't have to be that gross," Ron said. "We are going to have a fantastic time."
Ron and Hermione had chucked their initial plans when the weather was still so hot and decided to head north to Scotland simply to escape the heat. They decided they would spend a few days camping in the highlands, and then would move to the coast for a few days. They would hike and fish and explore, but most importantly they would hang out as just a family of four for two weeks uninterrupted by work or school or extended family or the outside world in general.
Rose and Hermione were still a bit flabbergasted by the luxury of a tent that had a bedroom, sitting room, kitchen and loo with hot water. But, it was still a simple family trip, and each of them had a small camp bed with a sleeping bag and they were all sleeping in the same room. The first day they had found a place to set up the tent and enjoyed most of the afternoon simply getting settled, playing in a river nearby and eating supper outside by the campfire they built. After dinner, Ron and Rose played chess for a while before they all decided to snuggle around the campfire and read together.
Ron had chuckled when Hermione brought down an entire box of books to bring with them on their vacation. There were some for her to read, as well as at least a dozen books that they could read as a family. She had picked a variety of books they could read together – including some adventure stories, mysteries and classics. They had all decided on a book called Mr. Limoncello's Library to start with. None of them had read it before, so it was a fun story to read together and try to figure out the puzzles in the story as a family.
Ron was leaning against a tree stump with Hermione leaning on his left and Hugo curled up on the ground next to him with his head in Ron's lap while Rose had her head in Hermione's lap. Ron listened to Hermione read, watched the fire flicker in front of him and ran his hand through Hugo's hair on his lap and felt like the luckiest person alive.
The next day found them enjoying a brook they'd found at the edge of the wood. They'd decided to spend most of the day exploring that area. Hermione declared she wanted to read in a hammock while Hugo wanted to sketch, so Ron and Rose took off on brooms for a fly promising to be back in time for lunch.
Ron loved flying with his children, and he hadn't had many chances to fly with Rose like he had with Hugo, so he was secretly thrilled at the chance.
"Shall we just follow the brook upstream and see where it leads us?" Rose asked as she mounted her broom.
"Sounds like a brilliant plan," Ron grinned. "You set the pace."
"If you're sure you can keep up," she teased as she zoomed off.
"Cheeky thing," Ron muttered as he waved goodbye to Hermione and Hugo and hopped on his broom. He hung back a bit so he could watch her form on the broom and was impressed. She had the basic techniques down well, especially considering a year ago she'd never been on one.
"You know," Ron said as they landed in a clearing to have a drink of water, "you are really quite good on a broom."
"Yeah?" she asked nervously.
"Yeah. Have you been practicing?"
"Well, sort of. Both Scorp and Al want to try out for the Slytherin quidditch team this fall, so every time we are at The Burrow they want to practice or scrimmage or something. Obviously they both have a lot more practice than I do at flying, but I do like it."
"Well, you're doing really well. Are you going to try out?"
"Me? Try out for the quidditch team?" she laughed.
"Why is that funny?" asked Ron.
"I had never even heard of quidditch until last year, and the Gryffindor quidditch team is no joke. I don't know that a second year could make the team – and definitely not one with only a few months of flying experience."
"Well, I can't tell you if you would make the team or not this year. But if it is something you are interested in or something you want to learn more about, I can absolutely help you with that."
"I don't know. When I look at James and Al – well, both their parents were quidditch captains and then Ginny played professionally. And then there is me. Seems a little hopeless."
"Rose," Ron said with a scrunched up forehead. "No one is born just knowing how to play quidditch. I didn't make the team my first few years-"
"You didn't?" she asked, surprised.
"No. And a lot of people thought I only made the team when I did because Harry was captain, which may have actually been a little accurate. But, even though I was clearly not as good as my baby sister at quidditch, which let's face it – really sucked – I have always loved flying. It's the one thing I know I can do and just let the stress blow off of me. In the air, I dunno, I always feel like I can breathe better or something."
"I do love it," she admitted quietly. "But I don't really know how to get better at it."
"And it never occurred to you to just ask?" he said, messing up her hair affectionately. "For a brilliant witch you can be pretty silly sometimes. Look, I know we don't have the most traditional father- daughter relationship, but helping you learn to fly is definitely an area I am fully qualified to handle."
She gave him a sheepish grin and then hugged him. "I would love that," she said. "For a lot of reasons actually."
"Me too," he said leaning down to kiss the top of her head. "Alright. Finish you water break and I will show you a few basic drills."
Soon Ron had her running some basic drills and found a few small technique problems that she could fix easily, and soon she was able to make much sharper turns and come to a full stop much cleaner. Then he showed her the drills he still ran to keep up some of his skills, and they ran through several cycles together. After a while, they landed to catch their breath and have another drink of water. Rose laughed as she heard his stomach rumble.
"Sounds like it's time to feed you, Dad," she laughed, and then caught herself as she realized what she'd said. In a slightly embarrassed tone she quickly added, "Um, I mean, Ron, are you hungry?"
Ron couldn't hide the grin on his face as he put an arm around her and pulled her into a hug. "Rose, honey, I love being your dad. And I love being your Ron. And I will love answering to either one from you for as long as I live."
"Really?" she said in a small squeak of a voice, eyes quickly dampening.
"Of course, really," he said. "You are my daughter, and I am your dad. I know habits are hard to break, so since you got to know me as Ron you can always call me that. But I love – and I mean LOVE- that I have earned a place in your heart where you can think of me as Dad. And if you go back and forth between the two, that's fine too. Just don't call me ickle Ronniekins like George does. I hate that."
At that she laughed causing fat tears to roll down her cheek and gave him a big hug burying her face in his chest. She was crying a tiny bit as Ron rubbed her back affectionately.
"Do you know what?" he said tenderly. "Actually the first time we met do you know what you called me?" She shook her head now against his chest. "You called me Misser Wheezy at Hugo's baptism. You were so bloody adorable I momentarily forgot to be upset that I thought your mum had married someone else."
"That's what you thought?" said Rose as she snapped her head up to look at him.
"Well, you know your mum and I had a decade or so of missed moments and misunderstandings. I asked her out after Fi and Dennis' wedding, but she was leaving the country. She gave me her email address, but of course I didn't even know what that was. So, clearly, I let her down by never sending a message on the computer. And then at the baptism between you and our conversation I thought she'd gotten married. And apparently she asked Dennis a few things over the years, but our luck was just shite you know. But in the end, I don't know how well we would have done if we'd tried to date without me being able to be honest about magic – and of course none of us knew you two were magical as well. So, I can't regret any of it. I know I am happier now than I ever have been in my life – so I am just going to enjoy that instead of wasting time of could have been's."
"Yeah. I know what you mean. I had another friend in primary school who was adopted, and she was really focused on who her birth family could have been and thinking about how her life would have been different if she hadn't been adopted. But, I never thought that was worth my time. It wasn't the life I had. Just like I wasn't born a boy or 100 years from now or blind or whatever. It just wasn't my life. And even if my birthparents hadn't died and they were somehow alive and I met them, I don't know that I could have much relationship with them. I am who I am because of the life Mum gave me. And she did give it to me, you know. She may not have given birth to me, but she was the one who allowed me to live and to be who I am. She loved me, fed me, nurtured me, taught me, laughed with me, read to me – all of it. So wasting time on could have been's seemed like a waste to me. You can't unbake the cake. I'm glad I have the mum – and the dad – that I have today."
"I love you, Rose," he said as he hugged her tightly and kissed her forehead.
"I love you, Dad."
They returned back to where they had left Hermione and Hugo for lunch. When they landed, they discovered an array of sandwiches, fruit and crisps all of which were laid out on a picnic table.
"What's on tap for this afternoon?" Hugo asked.
"Well, I am happy to go on an adventure, but if people want to just hang around here for a while I think I'll kip in the hammock," yawned Ron.
"What do you want to do, Hugo?" Rose asked.
"I was thinking I'd go explore further downstream bit. Maybe wade down the water and look for fish and whatnot."
"I'll go with you," Rose offered.
"Why don't you two go off in the stream, Ron you take your nap, and I'll clean up lunch. Maybe we can regroup in a while and go for a short hike together before dinner."
"Sounds great. Thanks, Mum!" called Rose as she grabbed a banana and a water bottle to take with them.
"Yeah, thanks!" mumbled Hugo as swallowed hit last bite of sandwich and hurried after her.
"I knew I married a brilliant woman," said Ron as he gave her a peck on the cheek. "But I am glad to help."
"Nah," she said. "I lazed about all morning. It will be good to be up and about for a little. And once I am done I'll just go back to reading 'til the kids come back."
"Well, I'll at least help you get everything back to the kitchen," he said as he started directing the plates and leftovers with his wand.
Hermione laughed. "Still don't know when I'll get used to that," she said shaking her head. "Go have a date with the hammock."
"Ok," he said smiling.
Rose and Hugo were wading along the stream following the slow current as it tripped and babbled along through the wood. Being late August there were many plants growing along its banks, providing perfects nooks and crannies for little tadpoles and tiny fish to hide.
"Did you have fun flying this morning?" Hugo asked casually as he picked up a rock to see what was underneath it.
"Yeah. It was really good. I wish I could do that more often," said Rose.
"Yeah, Ron takes me flying some evenings and it's always really fun. Did you know he took me flying the day of Mummy and Daddy's funeral?"
"He did?"
"Yeah. It was before we knew you guys were magical, so I guess he didn't say anything at the time. But he took me flying all over and we ended up at the seaside. He said flying was how he learned to cope after Fred died. I see what he means. It's a lot easier to breathe when you're up on a broom like that. But I don't know if I will ever love it as much as Ron does."
"Dad does love flying. And he showed me a lot of little things today that helped me get better at flying."
Hugo just looked at her. "Since when do you call him Dad?"
"Since today I guess," shrugged Rose. "Is that ok with you?" she asked earnestly.
"Yeah. Of course," said Hugo. "Just wasn't expecting it I guess."
"You weren't expecting it today or weren't expecting it at all?"
"Huh," thought Hugo. "Just not today I guess."
"Do you think you will always call them Hermione and Ron? Or could you see calling them something else someday?"
Hugo was quiet for a minute and threw a rock into the water that he had picked up. They both watched the ripples from the splash move outward across the water. "I kind of want to call them something different, but it just feels weird, you know?"
"I don't know, Hugo. I'm sorry. I can only imagine. I can imagine that the whole thing is just a big old mess. But, whatever you call them, they feel like parents to you, right? Wasn't that the whole point of the adoption vows at the wedding?"
"Yeah. Yeah – I do. I do think of them that way. I just don't want to say anything that would make Mummy and Daddy feel like they've been replaced, I guess."
They both sat on a big boulder that jutted out over the stream. Hugo picked at the lime green moss growing alongside it. Rose plucked at some clover on the bank and threw the green leaves into the water, watching them float along with the current.
After a while Rose suddenly asked. "You only ever called Dennis and Fiona Mummy and Daddy right?"
"Right."
"So what if you called them Mum and Dad? They would never be Mummy and Daddy. Those names already belong to someone. Or you could use a different term, like the Maman or Mati or Mama. And for Dad you could do Papa or Pops or something."
Hugo didn't say anything, but was clearly contemplating her suggestion, even saying the words a few times to see how they felt on his lips. "So, did you ask Ron if you could start calling him Dad?"
"No. I've been wanting to, but I never said anything. And then when we were out flying earlier I just called him that by accident. I went to correct myself but he was grinning so much it was clearly not necessary. I'll probably call him both for a little bit out of habit. But I like calling him Dad. But, then again, I've never had a dad before so it is really totally different than your situation."
For a few moments Hugo said nothing, but then asked, "Are you going to change your last name to Weasley?"
It was Rose's turn to be quiet now. She shrugged, and returned to plucking leaves form the stream bank. But after a while she said, "I don't know. I haven't yet. I actually don't know that Mum did either. I've always been Rose H. Granger, and I like that. I definitely wouldn't get rid of Granger. Maybe just add Weasley? I don't know. But then if I get married someday then what?"
"I dunno," smiled Hugo with a twinkle in his eyes. "Maybe use 'em all –Rose Hila Granger Weasley Malfoy?"
"HUGO!" Rose yelled in a horrified way as she snapped her head around to face him. Seeing how much he was enjoying the torment, she narrowed her eyes at him. Finally, she said, "Well I guess we really are siblings. And if you get to be the annoying little brother, then I get to be the bossy big sister." And with that she quickly moved her leg and kicked him to push him off the rock and into the pool of water below. Out of instinct, Hugo grabbed for her as he fell and ended up getting a hold on her shirt, and soon both of them had fallen into the creek below. After a brief moment of stunned shock and silence, they both broke into a fit of giggles and began splashing each other in the creek. After a while, they both sat on the grass along the bank of the creek, drying out in the sun despite being caked in mud and thoroughly drenched.
They were laying on their backs watching the clouds float by when Rose finally said in a defense tone, "He's just my friend you know."
"For no-ow," Hugo said, wagging his eyebrows.
"Hugo, you can tease me when it's just us. But you have to promise never, ever, ever to say anything in front of anyone else, ok? Not Mum and Dad, not Al, not Lilly, no one, ok? Because we really are just friends, and I depend on Al and Scorp too much for some silly teasing or rumor to mess those friendships up."
Hugo giggled. "As much as I enjoy that I can rile you up with just a few choice words, Rose, the difference between us and siblings born as – well – normal siblings is that I would never do that to you."
"Thank you, Hugo."
"But someday when you two finally realize you are more than friends, can I be there when you tell Dad?"
She stared at him for a moment. "You know, Hugo, I don't know whether I should hit you for that comment or hug you for calling him Dad."
"Had to see what it felt like to say it."
"And?"
"And it feels good."
"Yeah. Did for me too."
They had enjoyed a full week of uncharacteristically sunny weather for England, but when they had awoken that Friday, they all heard the steady beat of the rain against the tent walls. Hermione was still up early, but decided to curl up on the sofa with a book after breakfast. Hugo had taken his book back to his camp bed to read as well, but Ron and Rose decided to head out anyway so they could go over how to adjust for bad weather when playing quidditch or flying in general. After a bit, Hermione noticed Hugo marked his page with a bookmark and closed his book, but didn't get off the camp bed.
"You ok?" she asked quietly.
The little boy's head turned abruptly to her, as if he'd almost forgotten she was there. He eventually nodded and silently got up off his bed, walked over to the sofa and curled up next to Hermione, putting his head on her shoulder.
Stroking her hand through his fringe she asked again, "Are you sure you're alright, Love?"
He nodded, but didn't look her in the face. Then in a small voice he said, "Have you noticed that Rose is calling Ron Dad now?"
Understanding began to flash across Hermione's mind. "I had noticed that the past few days. They both seem to be pretty happy about it. What do you think about it?"
She felt him shrug against her torso as he played with the hem of her jumper distractedly. She let the silence hang between them while she continued to softly run her hands through his hair so he could figure out what he wanted to say next.
"Actually I am really glad for Rose. She never got to have a dad before, so I think it's really important for her to call him that."
"But you have had a daddy, so it's really different for you isn't it?" she said tenderly, trying to control the lump in her throat.
"Yeah," he said as she felt a fat tear hit the leg of her trousers. "But Ron's my dad now too. And I want to be able to have a special name for him that is different than what Al or Scorp or Lilly calls him. But I don't want to do anything that could make Mummy and Daddy think I am replacing them."
She carefully wiped his tears away and returned to stroking his hair. "You know your Mummy and Daddy chose Ron to be the one to take care of you, right? They picked him to be the one who would be your dad if anything happened to them. So they wouldn't feel replaced, Love. They would be glad you were in a family with the person they wanted for you. And Ron would never try to replace them."
"I know that. I really do. And it's the same for you too, you know. I think of you as my mum now too, and I know you aren't replacing Mummy. It's just hard."
"Well that is an understatement if I ever heard one," chuckled Hermione.
They sat in contented silence for a few minutes before Hugo said, "Rose thinks I should call you two Mum and Dad or some other kind of names, and that it wouldn't be replacing them because it's different than Mummy and Daddy, but I don't know. But I also don't want to be the only kid in the family who calls you two by your first names. That feels weird too."
"The only right way through this is to do what comes naturally to you. If you want to call me Hermione, then call me Hermione; if you want to call me something else, then that is fine too. Or go back and forth and try things out until you find what feels right. It's just the four of us out here for now, so you could do some name experiments and see what fits the best."
"You wouldn't think it's weird?"
"Hugo, the only thing I would think is weird is if you were upset about it and didn't do anything to fix it."
"So I could call you Mum or Mama or something?"
"Sure," she laughed. "Which of those do you like better?"
"Mama sounds weird. Like I am trying to be an American actor or something."
"Not exactly something that rolls off the British tongue, huh?"
"No," he giggled. "And Rose said to try French, but I am rubbish at French."
"Well, try Mum for a day or so and see how it goes. And you could do the same with Ron. If it feels weird after a few days, just go back to Ron and Hermione."
"You don't think Ron would mind?"
"I think his ridiculous grin every time Rose calls him Dad should answer that for you. He loves you so much. Soooo much, Hugo. And I think he would love it if you called him Dad. And I can promise you your Daddy would be happy about it as well. But if you need to go back to calling him Ron, then that's fine. Give it whirl and see what happens. I don't know another way to figure it out."
He took a deep breath and let out a determined sigh. "You're right. I am going to try it for a few days. If it doesn't feel right by the end of the trip, I'll just try something else. Is that alright by you, Mum?"
"Absolutely," she grinned and planted a very big kiss on his forehead as she squeezed him tightly.
It was the last afternoon of their camping vacation, and the kids had wandered off to get in a last swim in the pond near their campsite. Hermione had been reading in the hammock, and as soon as the kids wandered off, Ron decided to crawl in the hammock with her. But given that it was a small camping hammock, his presence did not go unnoticed.
"What on earth?" Hermione protested as Ron tried to roll into the hammock without rolling her out of it.
"When I pictured this in my mind it was a lot smoother and a lot less ridiculous looking," he chuckled as he smushed her into the hammock while still managing to have a leg almost vertically in the air.
"Well I guess I'm relieved this wasn't the goal," she giggled as she tried to turn onto her hip to make room for him to squish in behind her. "While I miss sleeping in the same bed as you, I'm not sure having my bum on your hip bone is quite what I was going for."
"I have missed your bum, though," Ron grinned as he ran his hand over her jeans. "But yeah, maybe not exactly in this position."
"Oh for heaven's sake, scoot up a minute," she protested as she tried to hold onto the edge of the hammock while holding her place in the book and trying to move in a way to let him get behind her. Ducking her head down, he finally swung one of his long legs overtop of her, placing him behind her, which finally allowed her to lean back comfortably into his torso and have his arms engulf her.
"I clearly married you for your smooth moves," she laughed.
"Ahh…perfect," he said smugly.
"Ok," she admitted. "This is rather perfect," she said as she snuggled into his chest. "I have missed sleeping in your arms. Guess we didn't really think through the whole one bedroom thing, huh?"
Ron laughed. "Right. But I am looking forward to making up for lost time when we get home."
She laughed too. "See how far we've come? Last year at this time we had to go on vacation to get to share a bed. Now we're married and went on vacation with separate beds!"
He smiled at her, but answered only with a tender kiss to her temple.
"And both kids are calling both of us Mum and Dad now," she added.
"Well, I won't pretend it didn't feel both a little weird and yet bloody brilliant at the same time. But the weird part has faded each day, and now it's just brilliant."
"Hugo and I had a good talk about it actually. He said he wanted to try it on vacation to see how it felt. And if it felt somehow disloyal to Dennis and Fiona then he could change it. But, I think it's making him almost as happy as it's making you and Rose."
"And what about you?"
"Took a few days to adjust to I think, but now that it's been almost a week I think it would feel weird to go back to having him call me anything else."
"Exactly," Ron agreed.
They both lay there for quite some time just enjoying the quiet and the closeness. Ron had started to wonder if Hermione had dozed off, but then she said, "I have loved this vacation. It was so simple and so exactly what we needed as a family right now."
"Even if we never made it to a museum?" he teased.
"Be nice," she chided.
"You know I would follow you to any museum you wanted to see. But I have to admit, this has been great."
"But so great that it makes it hard to think about Rose going back to school in a couple weeks."
"I know. But it's not as bad as last year, right? I mean we know we get to see her pretty frequently and all."
"What are we going to do next year when we have to send Hugo too? We'll be two pitiful lumps on that platform."
"OK, yeah. That's going to suck. But maybe we can plan something for just the two of us to look forward to right after he leaves for school. Sort of a little something to help ease the blow."
"Maybe," she conceded. "But I am going to ignore it for a while."
"I'm all for that."
"You have definitely been rubbing off on me."
"What do you mean?"
"I have never been one to put off worrying about something. But something about being in your arms, just listening to your heartbeat – well, I don't worry. You make me feel like it will just somehow all be ok. It's the most amazing thing."
Ron chuckled. "Funny – because from where I am it seems rather amazing to have you in my arms. And somehow you make me feel like it will all be ok too."
She grinned and turned her head up to his him sweetly, and then nuzzled back into his chest, letting the peaceful, warm feeling of security lull her to sleep.
